me, his face close to mine again. ‘Dylan? Are you all right? Dylan?’
I opened my eyes. He was right there, his face next to mine, dark hair falling over those wide, startlingly blue eyes.
‘Hey, chill, Harry,’ I said. I meant to mock him lightly, but the words came out real harsh.
Harry sat back, his expression part embarrassed, part annoyed.
‘That’s what you can do?’ he said. ‘Fall backwards off fences?’
I swallowed. ‘I can protect myself from any physical harm,’ I said. ‘Provided I can see the danger coming – or know exactly where it is. And provided it isn’t too big, like a really powerful bomb. Then I can’t stop it – at least I haven’t so far, though I’m working on it.’
Jeez , now I felt like a six-year-old, talking his ear off.
‘Right.’ Harry got to his feet. ‘Let’s get going, then.’
We walked in silence for a moment. It was the middle of the night, but there was still a steady stream of cars along Euston Road. I asked Harry about his life. He told me more about his parents and where they worked abroad and how he’d snuck out of his boarding school to find me. It still felt a bit awkward between us, but at least he smiled at me a couple of times.
Don’t ask me why this mattered.
As we reached the station, Harry asked if I had any idea where the code might be and I started thinking about that again. Was it written down somewhere among the possessions I’d inherited from Mom and Dad? Suddenly I felt Ed push into my mind.
Dylan? His thought-speech was urgent. Where are you?
What? Why? I stopped walking. Beside me I could sense Harry turn and gaze around the station concourse, but I couldn’t have turned to look at him even if I’d wanted to. Ed’s mind-reading is a powerful thing. Impossible to tear yourself away from unless he lets you go.
Ketty just woke me. She’s had a vision of Geri demanding to know where you are. She’s not sure when it’s going to happen, but she thinks sometime in the morning. You need to get back here fast.
I’m gonna catch a train. The first one goes at 5.30 or so.
That’s not for another hour. Ed sounded like he was freaking out.
There’s nothing I can do. Cover for me, will you? Say I’ve gone for an early morning walk or something.
‘Dylan, would you like a cup of tea or coffee? There’s an all-night café over there,’ Harry’s voice interjected.
Who’s that? Ed asked.
I could feel him start to poke around my thoughts.
Get out of my head.
Fine. Just get back as soon as you can. With a thought-spoken grumble, Ed’s presence vanished.
I turned to Harry. He was staring at me.
My stomach cartwheeled.
‘What were you doing just then?’ he said. ‘Your eyes were really focused, but it was like you couldn’t see.’ He sucked in his breath. ‘Were you communicating telepathically with someone?’
‘Er, yeah,’ I said, feeling awkward. ‘It’s one of the others with the Medusa gene . . . they, er, he . . . he can, er, mind-read.’
‘Impressive,’ Harry said. ‘Are you and he . . . you know?’ He gazed at me intently.
‘Me and Ed?’ I made a face. ‘No way.’
‘Right.’ Harry raised his eyebrows. ‘So where are you going now? Are you going back to this Ed and the others with the Medusa gene? Are you all staying with the head person . . . Geri Paterson?’
‘What’s with all the questions?’ I snapped. ‘You studying for an exam on my life?’
‘No.’ Harry frowned. ‘You know you’re really rude. I saved your ass back there.’
My breath caught in my throat. Harry wasn’t the first person to tell me I was rude, but this was definitely the first time I minded hearing it.
I shrugged. ‘You were real annoying.’
Harry gazed at me a moment longer. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘No questions.’ He fished a piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘I’ve written my phone number on this,’ he said. ‘In case you find the Medusa gene code and want to talk to my dad about it.’
I took the
I opened my eyes. He was right there, his face next to mine, dark hair falling over those wide, startlingly blue eyes.
‘Hey, chill, Harry,’ I said. I meant to mock him lightly, but the words came out real harsh.
Harry sat back, his expression part embarrassed, part annoyed.
‘That’s what you can do?’ he said. ‘Fall backwards off fences?’
I swallowed. ‘I can protect myself from any physical harm,’ I said. ‘Provided I can see the danger coming – or know exactly where it is. And provided it isn’t too big, like a really powerful bomb. Then I can’t stop it – at least I haven’t so far, though I’m working on it.’
Jeez , now I felt like a six-year-old, talking his ear off.
‘Right.’ Harry got to his feet. ‘Let’s get going, then.’
We walked in silence for a moment. It was the middle of the night, but there was still a steady stream of cars along Euston Road. I asked Harry about his life. He told me more about his parents and where they worked abroad and how he’d snuck out of his boarding school to find me. It still felt a bit awkward between us, but at least he smiled at me a couple of times.
Don’t ask me why this mattered.
As we reached the station, Harry asked if I had any idea where the code might be and I started thinking about that again. Was it written down somewhere among the possessions I’d inherited from Mom and Dad? Suddenly I felt Ed push into my mind.
Dylan? His thought-speech was urgent. Where are you?
What? Why? I stopped walking. Beside me I could sense Harry turn and gaze around the station concourse, but I couldn’t have turned to look at him even if I’d wanted to. Ed’s mind-reading is a powerful thing. Impossible to tear yourself away from unless he lets you go.
Ketty just woke me. She’s had a vision of Geri demanding to know where you are. She’s not sure when it’s going to happen, but she thinks sometime in the morning. You need to get back here fast.
I’m gonna catch a train. The first one goes at 5.30 or so.
That’s not for another hour. Ed sounded like he was freaking out.
There’s nothing I can do. Cover for me, will you? Say I’ve gone for an early morning walk or something.
‘Dylan, would you like a cup of tea or coffee? There’s an all-night café over there,’ Harry’s voice interjected.
Who’s that? Ed asked.
I could feel him start to poke around my thoughts.
Get out of my head.
Fine. Just get back as soon as you can. With a thought-spoken grumble, Ed’s presence vanished.
I turned to Harry. He was staring at me.
My stomach cartwheeled.
‘What were you doing just then?’ he said. ‘Your eyes were really focused, but it was like you couldn’t see.’ He sucked in his breath. ‘Were you communicating telepathically with someone?’
‘Er, yeah,’ I said, feeling awkward. ‘It’s one of the others with the Medusa gene . . . they, er, he . . . he can, er, mind-read.’
‘Impressive,’ Harry said. ‘Are you and he . . . you know?’ He gazed at me intently.
‘Me and Ed?’ I made a face. ‘No way.’
‘Right.’ Harry raised his eyebrows. ‘So where are you going now? Are you going back to this Ed and the others with the Medusa gene? Are you all staying with the head person . . . Geri Paterson?’
‘What’s with all the questions?’ I snapped. ‘You studying for an exam on my life?’
‘No.’ Harry frowned. ‘You know you’re really rude. I saved your ass back there.’
My breath caught in my throat. Harry wasn’t the first person to tell me I was rude, but this was definitely the first time I minded hearing it.
I shrugged. ‘You were real annoying.’
Harry gazed at me a moment longer. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘No questions.’ He fished a piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘I’ve written my phone number on this,’ he said. ‘In case you find the Medusa gene code and want to talk to my dad about it.’
I took the
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